Nov. 2017 : Florence Pénault

CERAMICS, A KOREAN INSPIRATION / Florence Penault

PRESS RELEASE

Kenektid X Gallery is pleased to present Ceramics, a Korean Inspiration by Florence Pénault, in a solo show on view at 1026 6th Avenue, Suite 201 in New York, from November 28th through December 9th, 2017, with an opening reception on Tuesday, November 28th.

Florence is a French artist, currently based in Boston, whose natural and organic ceramic pieces have been inspired by the Buncheong style, a Korean technique from the late 14th century. This style is known for using white slip applied freely on stoneware. Her textures are also influenced by the roughness and the colors of the granitic rocks of Brittany where she grew up, along with the familiar pattern of old French tablecloths.

Florence was also inspired by the philosophy and works of the English artist and designer William Morris (1834-1896), who posited that “the true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. ... Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,”and of Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961), author of “The Unknown Craftsman.” With these influences, she decided to create only functional pieces, light and simple for everyday life.

Florence started working in clay in 2004 in Connecticut. “In my childhood I met a mysterious potter community in the middle of a forest in Brittany. It was very romantic to me; it seemed to be the ideal life. Later, I studied the history of ceramics as a student of Art History in Bordeaux, France, and completed a memoir on the techniques of Bernard Palissy, a famous French Huguenot potter from the 16th century. Later, I traveled to the United States, where I was able to put my hands at work with this wonderful material called CLAY”, Florence said of her background. She has since been trained in Boston by her mentor Darrell Finnegan and at The Harvard Ceramic Program, as well as by a handful of ceramic artists in Paris.

Most of Florence’s ceramics are thrown. They are constructed in brown stoneware, covered with a white porcelain slip, and then decorated with underglaze pigments. After a first firing called “bisque firing” at 1828 degrees Fahrenheit, the pieces are coated with a light clear glaze and fired again at around 2230 degrees Fahrenheit, in reduction in a gas kiln or in oxidation in an electric kiln. Each piece is then unique, with some looked-after “perfect imperfections.”